Four Patrons for Rewapeh
by drufan
Summary: The desert, guiding lights and a baby. A baby? What story is this again?
1. The Crash

_A/N: This is a rip-off of John Ford's, the Three Godfathers. Just a little Christmas story to tide us over. Spoilers for anything up to Irresistible. This is just whump for whump's sake. Let's call it team whump with a bow. I ask you stow the BS meters and medical impossibilities…Thank you. Now enjoy…_

_Disclaimer: Three Godfathers is definitely not mine. Anything in the Stargate universe is not mine. I'm just putting them to use and returning them, like a pair of bowling shoes._

_Warning: Language_

**Four Patrons for Rewapeh**

Scene I

The Crash

Mom was going to be pissed. This was the second or, maybe, the third time he had crashed the station wagon within two years. The insurance was going to go through the roof…and Dad, he did not even want to go there.

Sheppard shifted slightly as voices from not too far away filtered through the static and pounding in his head. He shifted again and discovered the nine kinds of pain his body was experiencing. From the top of his head to tip of his size ten and a half's, nothing seemed immune. He screwed his courage to the post and tried to pry his eyes open. The batteries running his eye lids must have been low, because it took him more than one try. When he finally accomplished that small miracle of muscle control, blanket gray greeted him.

"Shit," he hoarsely whispered. Panic tried to spike until he realized he was face down on some sort of dash board. The station wagon…no…something else…something much cooler. If it was the family wagon, then the steering wheel should have been imbedded in his sternum, but something else poked him a little lower…joysticks? A flight simulator maybe?

"Geez Colonel, you cracked the control interface," someone astutely observed. The high-pitched sound that followed the observation proved that he was not the only one in nine kinds of pain.

"Dr. McKay?" a feeble female voice softly asked after him.

"Just…hit…my…mother…fu-lovin'…arm…"

"Suck it up, McKay."

Sheppard almost laughed at the advice, but could not quite get the lung capacity.

"SUCK IT UP? Let me hit your arm you lice-infested baboon!" Heavy breathing and more muttering followed.

Crank call. This had to be a crank call yanking his chain. If this situation was that serious, then they would sound a little more concerned, right? The fire department would be here and cops would be talking to them…except that was not right either. Mom was really going to be pissed if he was past curfew…but his Mom was dead…who was he thinking of then?

"Come here and let me jostle that shoulder, and then tell me to suck it up!" There was a brief pause before, "AAAAH! SON OF A…**_WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH_ _YOU_**?" There was a pause and then more yelling, "You purposely hit me there!"

"I'm not a baboon."

"**_Boys_**," the feeble female voice, to his right, returned with righteous indignation and effectively stopped the argument. "Helping us is still on the list of things to do, is it not?"

"Uh…yeah," the self-important voice answered sheepishly. "It's just we need to move the baby out of the way first."

BABY?

The file cabinet that was Sheppard's brain started to thumb through any pertinent information that could explain the reason for an infant to be here, and came up empty.

_BABY!_

He wanted to scream that a flight simulator or a totaled station wagon was no place for a baby…except neither one of those things was right. This was still something else…

An image of a skeleton with skin scraping, dragging and crawling across the dirt and reaching up for…

This definitely was no place for a baby. Rodney was…Rodney! That was the first name of the irritating and irritated voice mumbling from below him.

"--now I see, the coupling and bolts--"

A high pitch wail drowned Rodney out. It filled the cabin of the whatever John was sitting in and made his head throb even worse.

That same keening echo had bounced off stone so they could find it…

"…yes, I see what I need to do…Can you _please _get it to stop doing that?"

"Trying," the gruff voice replied. Ronon was the name that went with that particular voice.

"Let me see _her_, I've nothing better to do…" Teyla said dryly…his team. The crying ceased with snuffling increments. "Where are the supplies from the mother?" she asked as the keening calmed, then rose, and then calmed again.

"Somewhere in the back. I'll go look," Ronon said moving farther away. "It's a mess back here!"

Puddle Jumper…not a family car but a Winnebago. Things started to fall into place as his head revolted at his displeasure. He went to move.

"Whoa, sit still Colonel!" Rodney commanded. Sheppard felt a prickle of irritation at that; he was the one usually giving the commands. "You're pinned, so is Teyla. The front end of Jumper has you trapped."

Sheppard slowly opened his eyes and looked out the windshield at rocks the color of sand. White and tan boulders gleamed in the sun. He then noticed their almost straight down view of a valley below them. The jumper apparently came to rest against a few boulders facing downwards. Crashing into a mountain also seemed to crumple the front of the Jumper and pushed it back against him and, as he looked to his right, Teyla.

Teyla gave a quick, worried reaction from his look while rocking a bundle of blankets. "Rodney, check the Colonel's head," she almost demanded, but requested, instead.

After a couple of seconds, a hand rested on his back. "Colonel, I'm going to help you sit back in the seat." Rodney did just that and took in his own quick breath of air. "Yikes, nice cut and you got two black eyes there, Sheppard."

Big surprise, Sheppard thought, because that was what his head was telling him. But that was not the worst of it; his chest and stomach were hurting just as badly. And to top it off, even sitting back in the chair, his abdomen was still squished by the console.

"Ronon! Have you found the first aid kit yet?"

"Quit yelling, McKay," Sheppard asked as politely as possible.

"Yes!" A sliding sound accompanied the answer.

Sheppard huffed and asked again, "Please, stop yelling."

"Thanks!"

He moaned and let his head hang forward forlornly. "McKaaay…"

McKay saw it and mumbled, "Oh, sorry. Suppose that hurts the head…"

_Yeah, it does dumb ass, _he thought at his genius of a friend.

As Rodney tended his head, Sheppard's thoughts meandered to explain the current situation, to explain a baby.

Culled…a planet…not the one they were on, presently…going back to the Stargate…maybe good for bridge…Wraith scouting party…

"Okay, Colonel this is going to hurt…Ronon little help!"

_Stop yelling,_ he thought again about ready to cry, but not really.

Gauze was pressed against his forehead and he tried to hit the hand away. Another hand grabbed his as a foot pressed on the crook of his other arm pinning it to the back of the seat.

"Sorry, Colonel," Rodney apologized, "We need to stop the bleeding; you've left a mess on the face of the controls and on your shirt and now the seat of my pants…"

Fuck them both.

Rodney sat on the dash and used his foot to hold John's arm in place as he took care of his head. Rodney also held one arm close to his body trying not to move it. Ronon did the same as he used his good arm to hold Sheppard's arm down. Soon Rodney's other booted foot took Ronon's place as Ronon became Rodney's other hand helping to tape the gauze in place.

The situation was obviously serious. Teyla and he were trapped; these two were injured; **_and _**they had an infant on board (hopefully, sans ridiculous, little yellow sign). Mom…no, Elizabeth was going to have a passel of cows. This time it was not entirely his fault; the Wraith caused the crash. They had spotted them getting into the Jumper and took an educated guessed where to shoot. Their guesses paid off and damaged the cloak. Then the chase was on…wait, where was the mother?

Sheppard let his eyes slide towards Teyla's direction and the little bundle of blankets squirming in her arms.

"The moth'r?" he asked, slow and deliberate. His thoughts tried to fragment and dart into a thousand different directions.

"Dead. Drained by a Wraith and left to die. For some reason, he did not finish."

He remembered. The skeleton with skin. Dry desiccated lips kissing her daughter good-bye…hair falling out in clumps…skin flaking off as she caressed her daughter one last time…

"Hunh, maybe they do get full?" Rodney chimed in.

"Not funny McKay," warned Ronon from the other side of Sheppard.

"Not meant to be, but sorry just the same." He sounded dutifully chastised.

Sheppard looked at Rodney and noticed the blood staining his face and hands. He too had bruises and winced with the slightest movement. Sometimes, he stopped to catch his breath.

"Brok'n arm?" It was so hard to talk when breath did not like to enter the lungs. It was so hard to focus on one thing as your brain felt as battered as Rodney, Ronon and Teyla looked.

"Yeah, Ronon too, but maybe his is more clavicle or something." Rodney finished taping the gauze in place and looked right in his eyes. "Anywhere else we need to know about?"

"Whole torso hurts…" he paused, "…not sure 'bout legs."

"Let's get a peek under the ol' shirt, Colonel." Rodney lifted it up and hissed. "Looks like the joysticks got you…and…I can't see anything past your navel. Lots of bruising."

Rodney awkwardly moved to get down off the dash. He narrowly missed bumping his head and stepping on Sheppard's hip. He did a kind of one legged hopping dance to catch his balance.

"Let me finish looking for the supplies for the baby before it gets testy," Ronon said catching Rodney before scuffling to the back of the Jumper.

"I'll check Teyla," offered Rodney as he took up the same position, sitting on the crumpled dashboard in front of Teyla. It had to be very uncomfortable because he had to remain stooped over in order to sit there.

Rodney hissed again probably from viewing Teyla's injuries or it could have been from his own. As he assessed her injuries, Sheppard dozed off for a second or a year; he was not sure, nor, in his mind, did it matter. A loud, frustrated roar woke him back up.

"AAAAH! Dammit! Found the bottles of goat's milk or whatever that four-legged, shaggy thing was! Only four survived!" Ronon stomped his way back to the front. "There goes the plan of staying with the Jumper. Atlantis won't contact us for another three days, their time. We were coming back very early."

Atmospheric reentry…more shots fired…big, honkin' mountain filling the view screen…controls fried…

Puddle Jumpers were not naturals at gliding-- more of a full soda can plummeting to earth kind of thing.

"We will thin it out as much as possible," Teyla suggested. "Rewapeh can survive for a couple of days…"

"Yes, we have some water and we're on the planet the Gate is located…" added Rodney with his worried, optimistic voice.

Deep well…a cry echoing from inside…what was once a young woman crawling, crying, dying…

He dozed again.

"Okay, this is a two man operation," Rodney said, waking John up. He was talking to someone right near his chair. "We'll have to remove the connectors to the floor and ease them back. We're gonna hafta do Teyla first since she's smaller. Then, hopefully, she can help when we move the Colonel…"

The Jumper chose that time to shudder. John watched through the front window as gravel and sand rolled away from them. Everyone froze except for the baby safe in Teyla's arms.

"I believe the time table has changed-- we need to get them out in a faster manner than previously believed," Rodney hurriedly said. "The tremors are increasing in frequency. Ronon, I'll start undoing Teyla's chair; you open the back hatch and start getting necessary supplies out. I'll call you when I need you!"

The shuffling increased in urgency and the light started to filter from the rear and brightened incrementally as the gantry lowered. For a brief moment, Sheppard realized he should be slumped on the control console due to the angle. The artificial gravity must still be on, there must be some power. Lights started flickering responding to his thoughts. The HUD blinked on and resembled colored oil in water, kind of like the beginning of a James Bond flick.

"Stop Sheppard, the HUD's not working; the engines aren't working; we've been through this…" Rodney sounded exasperated. "I know you don't remember, but we've got everything under control."

Sheppard decided to fall asleep again since he was not needed, until he heard--

"--slowly, slowly--"

--followed by a soft thud.

"How do you feel, Teyla?" Ronon asked quietly.

She let out a soft moan before informing them, "My left knee is injured. I think that that is all besides the other."

"Can you help us?" Rodney asked.

"If I sit."

"It'll have to do."

Sheppard felt his chair start to shake and teeter and then slide backwards. He felt his legs scraping on Ancient polymer and composite. It snagged his pants and scraped his skin. He gave a guttural moan as his lower abdomen was freed from the console. As innards moved and fluids flowed, his ears roared and people called his name. The Puddle Jumper started to shudder in response as he looked at the ceiling of the Winnebago in his tipped over chair.

He had to hold it together for just a few more minutes…

"Sheppard! Stand up! Teyla is free and we need to go," Ronon forcefully ordered as he pulled on him with his good hand.

More shuddering…

Must go…always have to go here and there…must meet the damn, stupid, obsessive compulsive quota…must throw Rodney's socks in the hamper…owed Rodney payback for that…must go, go, go…

"He threw my baby in the well!" The talking corpse had cried…Like dirty socks, he had thought. Like Rodney's dirty socks…really did owe him big time for the herb incident…

Daylight gouging his eyes, stabbed him. Sand, white as snow, blinded him. Ronon said the he must keep moving.

"Run, Sheppard…can't carry you!"

"Not going anywhere after this, is he?" Rodney's voice joined them and grabbed him on the other side.

Rumbling and tumbling and sliding and crashing…

The baby did not have a scratch on it. The well was covered with wood slats about five feet down to keep the children from falling into it. A hole in the middle of the cover allowed for the bucket. The baby had been lying just inches from the hole. It was the sort of thing that made a Christmas miracle movie for Hallmark.

They finally stopped. His stomach lurched from the exertion, the head injury, and the thought of mere inches. He puked and the sand turned from white to red. The two mixed to create a beautiful, rosy pink, like a child's cheeks.

Staring at the mixture, his hands clung to the hard, hot surface under the sand. He had dug his fingers into it and had stopped when they hit rock.

He never wanted to move again.

-------------------


	2. The First Steps

Scene II

The First Steps

The sandy, mountain side slid away catching the backend of the Puddle Jumper. Sand and gravel carried the backend around until it faced down and then it dislodged the now upward facing front end from the boulders. The entire Puddle Jumper cascaded down the slope to the base of the mountain with a muffled plunk. By the time the sand avalanche subsided, the entire Jumper was buried under tons of debris, sand, and gravel. The inside would probably be filled and there would be no time for excavation.

Rodney had brought Teyla over to another outcropping of boulders where Ronon had stacked all of their supplies and the baby. Rewapeh was in an armory crate with foam packing. She cooed and ate her hands as the three limped from the Jumper just ahead of the landslide.

Pain gripped each man to varying degrees as it did herself. No one could hide the fact that if Carson suddenly appeared with pain medication in a syringe the size of a gourd they would take it in a heartbeat. With the image of a needle the size of a squash in her head, she eased down onto the ground as Rodney and Ronon helped John do the same. He immediately retched and painted the sand red sending Rodney into a panic.

"I knew it! He's not going to make it to the Gate and neither are you, Teyla! We've also got Roo-a-poo and…"

"Roo-wa-pay," corrected Teyla. "Hand me those paper towels and some water," she directed pointing at the roll of blue.

Ronon retrieved the water and Rodney handed her the towels. "I'm just saying, the Gate's a good day, day and a half walk…with your knee and back and his…_that_," he pointed at the smelly, pink sand, "and the Jumper is under the side of a mountain and…"

"We'll figure it out, McKay," grunted Ronon breaking his silence while leaning against a rock.

"Figure what out? How we're gonna die? Because let's not forget, we have one or two other very big and deadly problems."

"We know, doctor," conceded Teyla as she wiped the blood from John's mouth and let a trickle of water pass his lips. "Flip him on his back and let's see the rest of his injuries. I also think it is time to feed our bonded daughter." Teyla kept her mind on the necessities as well as Dr. McKay's very real concerns.

"Oh come on, bonded daughter…she's just…"

"Promise to a dying woman, McKay," warned Ronon taking a swig of water, himself.

"Yes, yes, take my daughter…she is yours now, I proclaim you her four patrons. She is bonded to you, please save her…"

"It is an honor, Dr. McKay…"

"I know…it's just…but we're…I'm just not good…"

"With kids, we know." Ronon answered with a knowing grin on his face. "But, Sheppard did his part in getting us this far…now it's our turn."

If Rodney could have flopped down without jarring his arm, Teyla believed he would have. Instead, he sat down gingerly at the Colonel's head. He kicked sand on the remnants of Sheppard's insides revolting and sighed.

"We can't stay here. We're exposed."

"Agreed," Teyla and Ronon replied in unison.

Rodney raised an eyebrow. "Well, now we have to survive; you owe each other a Coke."

Rolling her eyes, Teyla looked out at the harsh landscape. It was white sand with some darker tan mixed in. In the distance, she could see more mountains, sand dunes and plains of rock before them. A desert like landscape with little or no water available stretched before them.

One thing left to do and only she could do it. She reached out and felt them immediately. She looked disappointedly at the others. "They survived."

"Of course _they _did," snapped Rodney. "_They _love to do that."

"Can you tell how many?" Ronon asked.

"Not distinct enough, two, maybe. Very far away, seems the Colonel's last shots downed both of their ships." She was sorry she could not tell more; they were just too far away.

"Okay, let's make a list," Rodney grounded out. "Four injured adults, one baby, no Jumper, Gate a good day and a half away, and pissed-off Wraith. Sound about right?"

"Sand," said Ronon. "Lot's of rocks and sand."

"Sand, sorry, forgot about the uncomfortable stuff in my drawers and stockings," sneered Rodney.

"Think you've hit all the high points, McKay," whispered John from the ground.

"Oh hey, look who's with us!" McKay retorted in mock-cheerfulness. "Just in time to join in the round table discussion."

Sheppard's eyes rolled in his head and Teyla could see where some of the blood vessels had broken in the whites giving him a sinister look. His head was on one of their packs and his legs bent upwards. Red still stained his teeth and his forehead was a deep purple almost black that spread down his face.

"We need to find a better spot, because he's right. I'm not going to make the Gate," Sheppard breathlessly whispered.

"I will not either." In response to the pensive looks of Rodney and Ronon, she merely held up her hand.

Teyla already knew how dire her situation was, for the Colonel and she shared more than one injury: her back, her head, her knee, and, like the colonel, her abdomen as well. She remembered, as the craft went down, sliding forward only to be pushed forcefully back by the front of the ship collapsing around her. After that, things became hazy until Ronon woke her up.

"We will go as far as we can. Then it will be up to the two of you to bring help," she declared as if it was not the death knell for Sheppard and her, but a ray of hope.

McKay looked stricken and Ronon looked resigned. But, they both knew the truth in her words.

"We gave a solemn oath to the baby's mother that we would get her to safety, and that is what we will do. Ronon is right, John has done his part. The next is mine and then it will be yours." Her will unbreakable and her determination set, she held her head up and dared each of them in the face. She looked at John for agreement, but he was already unconscious again. With such obstacles, it would not be an easy promise to fulfill.

McKay slumped his shoulders, but straightened them, right away. "Alright, let's prioritize what we need. Water, baby supplies, a few rations, water…"

Rodney and Ronon unpacked and repacked their gear. She fed the baby with the thinned out milk and checked the diaper. It took about an hour in the hot sun, but finally they were ready to go.

Ronon had found a broom in the Jumper and had grabbed it before the ship's demise. He fashioned a padded top to put over where the bristles used to be. He had cut them off and had put a small nylon bag filled with some of the packing foam from different delicate gear Dr. McKay insisted on bringing to cushion under her arm.

Rodney squeaked and blanched when he pulled the backpack over his arm and onto his shoulder. Ronon did the same trying to figure out how to keep the strap from hitting his shoulder. He finally slung it diagonally with most of the weight on his good shoulder. He placed Rewapeh in the crook of her arm and finally, roused Sheppard, who stood up in a daze and nodded his readiness on wobbly knees.

"Sheppard, it's time to walk. Put your hand on McKay's shoulder or grab the backpack here," Ronon directed him and placed John's hand on a strap looped around to become a handle.

After a few feeble attempts Rodney lost patience, "Here Ricky Raccoon, just let me grab you because the incline is going to knock off all of our equilibriums." Rodney snaked his arm around Sheppard's waist and grabbed at his belt.

"Well, let's fall, with style, down this mountain…" Rodney breathed out.

Teyla, dismayed, realized Rodney was right. They skidded and slipped and slid down the sand ending up on their bottoms more than once. They rested when rocks appeared and continued with the gradual descent. At some point, John went boneless pulling Rodney with him. They completed their journey down the oversized dune quicker than anticipated.

"McKay! McKay! Can you hear me?" Ronon yelled.

Rodney and John disappeared over a ledge only to reappear at the base sliding to a stop and not moving. Ronon yelled for both of them as Teyla and he continued to pick their way down the incline. Finally, McKay's arm moved to push himself up, only to collapse when he tried it with the wrong one. His shriek reached them and both winced in sympathy. He tried again with the uninjured arm and rolled over onto his side awkwardly. His backpack thwarted any more of a roll and pushed himself up from his side.

"I'm fine…we're fine…I think…" he said over the radio.

"We'll be there soon, Dr. McKay," Teyla assured him over the headset.

"Oh…OK…Hear that Sheppard? They'll be here soon…" There was a disassociated despair in his voice.

Teyla did not hear an answer from the Colonel as they drew nearer and nearer. What she did hear was the baby asleep on her arm softly snoring. A tuft of curly, wiry, black hair poked out through the top of the blanket. The child slept blissfully unaware of the trauma and ruin around her.

This was a very good baby. She cried when hungry or dirty. She cooed when content. And, she slept like one of the stones on the desert floor. A very good baby indeed.

When they reached their two teammates, Rodney already had Sheppard set up in the shade of small outcropping of stone.

"My initial estimate of a day to day and a half might have been too generous," Rodney said upon their approach. He stared out into the expanse with a blank face. "I think it will be more like two or two and a half."

"Milk might not last that long…we definitely can't wait for Atlantis," observed Ronon.

"You both will travel faster when we find a place for the Colonel and me to wait." She could see the protests forming on lips, but she shook her head. "We will also need to fashion a carrying device for the two of you because you only have one hand apiece."

"Which way to the Ring, McKay?" Ronon asked after a few moments of silence.

"According to the HUD, before it went all psychedelic, it was due that-a-way." He pointed to a ridge across the flat white plain. "We are too far away for the LSD to pick it up yet…but according to the database and the readings when we first exited the Gate, this planet has no life signs, none whatsoever, even larger mammalian or reptilian. No other energy readings either. We got that working in our favor because it will stick out like a sore thumb." He tried to sound upbeat with the last little bit.

Teyla appreciated the effort. She looked down and moved the blanket from the baby's face. Dark brown, almost black eyes watched her. Dark, chocolate skin glowed against the purple blanket. A blanket her mother had given her. It was one of her only possessions.

"Her name is Rewapeh; I pronounce you her four Patrons and bond her to you. She is now yours to care for until parents can be found or you take up the mantel. Please, save her from this place. Tell her of her mother and father who loved her. Teach her to enjoy her life. Teach her of her people…"

The woman had given them a book that told of Rewapeh's people. It told of their daily lives, their religion, and their history. It was her only other possession.

They had come upon the emaciated woman as she pulled her way inch by inch to a well. She begged them to help her. They listened to the cries echoing. With trepidation, John had looked into the well and smiled.

"She's only a few feet down. Teyla, you might be able to get her."

Teyla dropped down onto the wooden slats and retrieved the child. The others helped her back out and John held the child first, uncomfortably. He looked afraid of breaking her. He brought her over to her mother and that was when the mother asked them to take her child to safety. She kissed her baby as tears fell from shrunken eyes knowing this was the best she could do for her daughter. The mother passed soon there after.

Teyla could not tell who the child looked like because of the desiccation, but she would tell this little girl of her mother's courage and love. The Wraith had left that woman to suffer. They left her as if it was a game to torture a person like that, to listen as their baby cried for help. Teyla hugged the child closer to her. Her little life a struggle so far, Teyla would fulfill her part of the promise.

"I believe that the Colonel and I shall travel together and you two will scout ahead to find the best path and place of safety for us."

"But, Teyla…what if…?" McKay started.

"No Rodney, he will walk for as long as he can and I shall carry the child in one hand and use the crutch with the other. When you find a spot, come and get us."

"We'll rest for thirty minutes and then start the next step," Ronon proclaimed, settling the issue. She could tell he did not like the separation either, but John and she were not going to see the Ring with them.

After the rest, Ronon woke Sheppard, who was even more sluggish and disoriented than before. When his faculties caught up, he looked around in dismay.

"Damn, still on West World." His voice rattled like his breath.

"Come on Sheppard, you'll walk with Teyla and the baby. McKay and I are going to scout ahead." Ronon pulled him to standing and guided him to Teyla.

"John, hold on to my backpack," she instructed. "John?"

"I got it," he replied, annoyed. "I got it…"

They started off across the flat expanse and away from the Jumper and its distinctive metals that could bring more Wraith or rescue. They walked away from a good ship that had served them well.

The plain was rocky and sandy. It was inhospitable for man or beast and, especially, injured man. They trudged, and Sheppard remained silent as he sleepwalked his way towards whatever Ronon and Rodney would find.

Teyla too found herself wandering in her mind. Darts had strafed the ground with their culling beams. Darts had fired at the Jumper as they entered it. The dart's weapons had hit it and damaged circuits and crystals. John had kept it flying as Rodney had kept the power routed to systems.

The Colonel outmaneuvered the darts, but only for so long. He destroyed two with delicate rolls and daring stops. The other two had chased them back to the planet of origin and had delivered a volley that he could not escape. Their hours of evasion were for naught. Once they exited the upper atmosphere and entered the lower, a shot disabled all controls just before he let loose his parting shots at the darts. That was when crashing became an immediate threat. That was when they found out how a Jumper crumples like an aluminum can when it strikes a rocky mountain side face first.

Coming back to herself, Teyla followed the footprints in the sand and periodically checked on her two charges. Rewapeh slept in her arms and John slept on his feet. He stumbled once or twice and they had to stop once when he could not get back up.

She pulled milk for the baby out of her backpack figuring this was as good a time as any. Ronon and Rodney had the rest of the supplies. She carried enough for the three of them. She ate a small portion of a PowerBar and offered John the other half.

Since he had retched when he fell, he declined the offer and curled up in the sand. She could slowly feel her stomach growing more rigid and she placed a hand of John's to feel the same. Teyla hoped that they found a place to shelter soon.

After the short respite, she prodded John with her crutch, gathered the baby, and started shuffling again. When they reached the ridge of sand, she would stop because they could not make it over it without help. She tried to contact Ronon and Rodney to tell them of her intentions, but the signal was blocked by the enormous mound of sand. So she walked and crunched in the sand thinking of times past and songs her father would sing when she was scared. She sang them softly and out loud to sooth herself or anyone listening.

Just shy of reaching the dune, John's hand lost grip one more time and with such force, it knocked her off balance. Resigned that this was where they would wait it out for her other two teammates, she regained her footing and slowly turned to help him. This time, however, she caught out of the corner of her eye, John skidding across the ground as if flung.

Damning herself for ignoring the cold sensation in the pit of her stomach as just injury and the constant far off presences, she turned to face one of the Wraith crashed on this forsaken planet.

He held a stunner and fired without as much as a sneer. She dropped to the ground and covered the baby. His shot missed, but not by much since he was only a few paces away. She looked up just in time to see the Colonel charge the enemy and throw his entire body at the creature. The Wraith caught him and threw him like a child's toy behind him. The Colonel slid in the sand and completely disappeared from sight, swallowed by the shifting, arid world. She could not lay on the ground and wonder at John's fate. She had her own to worry about as well as Rewapeh's.

She rolled off the child only to curl back up as a stunner blast hit her pack. Her back numbed, she felt for her sidearm. Teyla pulled it, rolled, and fired. She hit the Wraith with four consecutive shots in the upper body. She, unfortunately, was aiming for its head, but exhaustion and pain skewed her shots. Teyla continued to fire until the weapon clicked.

With a snarl affixed to its face, it approached without saying a word. The bullet wounds meant nothing to it as it stalked towards them. With her coordination impeded by the effects of the stun, she tried to push back in the sand with her feet and her one available arm. Her knee, back and abdomen protested and she grunted with the overwhelming pain and panic. She scrabbled harder as it stood next to her head. It was a losing battle.

He looked over his shoulder to make sure John was still down and turned back to glare hungrily at her. Confident nothing could interrupt his dinner, he knelt down next to her as her feet tried to push off the porous surface.

"I even have an appetizer," he said looking at the squirming baby in her arms and reached for her.

Teyla felt the revulsion and then the disappointment in her failure to deliver on her promise. That is, until the Wraith's skull cap was lifted off its head by a blast from Ronon's _beloved_. Another blast put a gaping hole in its ribcage.

Teyla clutched the baby close and buried her face into the royal purple blanket until plodding footsteps reached her a few seconds later.

"Are you all right?" Ronon asked, breathless, and placed a hand on her shoulder. More footsteps approached as she looked at him with gratitude and nodded with her answer.

"Where's Sheppard?" Rodney asked, also out of breath.

She looked back over the dead Wraith and pointed to a place in the endless sand.

Ronon and Rodney slowly walked over and dropped to their knees.

"No," Rodney despondently murmured. "No," he said over and over.

They began their one-handed digging at a frenetic pace. A shallow sand pit had swallowed Sheppard and had partially buried him. Using their hands, they shoveled sand and small rocks until they could each get a hold of an arm or a sleeve to pull on.

This is as far as I shall go, Teyla thought. They would set up at the sand dune on the most protected side and wait for whatever may come. As she watched them dig, she thought she might even be waiting alone.

Teyla lay on the hot sand with the baby on her pained belly and sang another song her father used to sing to her about heroes of old. The infant cried and wailed along with her.

It was her turn to say good-bye to Rewapeh.


	3. The Expanse

_A/N: My apologies, I was going to put this up on Christmas when I realized I had completely erased the finished product. Yoinks! Luckily, the rough draft was around and I worked from there. So sorry for the delay._

Scene III

The Expanse

This is all Zelenka's and Gibb's fault, Rodney thought as he stood at the indented place in the landscape. The three of them had drawn straws on who would get the mini-vacation and who would get the two grocery runs. Zelenka pulled the two hour mission with Lorne. Gibbs pulled the overnighter with Korkov. And he had pulled the four day, trapped in a small, tin can journey from hell, which by the way, turned out to be more of a two day trip walking in the baking sun _in _hell. It came complete with demons, might he add, and he had bent back a finger nail while digging.

In retribution, Zelenka was going to be making an unnecessary run back to the Kill-a-Kid world. Rodney would supply the finger paints. And, Gibbs was going to have to do maintenance on the desalination plant. All sorts of lovely and putrid things always got stuck in the grates. Rodney laughed evilly to himself; it was good to be the boss. What was the use of power if it could not be abused every once in awhile?

"On three…" Rodney said. "And I mean when I say three…one…two…three…" Ronon and he pulled the Colonel out of the sand by his shirt and vest. Initially, all that had been visible was a boot and a tuft of hair. It was like the Wraith had planted Alfalfa of the Our Gang in the middle of the desert just to see if he would grow.

Rodney was finding it harder and harder not to laugh at some of the most completely inappropriate times, because, it seemed, that Sheppard had found his own grave, which was not remotely funny. As it turned out, it was where the Wraith had obviously buried itself and waited for the tail end of their little band to pass- going for the easy prey first, apparently. That too was not funny because Ronon and he had completely missed this when they had passed by.

Sand caked on the blood from the cut on Sheppard's head and the bandage was long gone. He had just come over the rise to see Teyla about to be fed upon and Ronon firing and sprinting full speed down the dune.

It was so not happening to one of his teammates if he could help it. Ronon had apparently agreed and announced his presence with deadly authority. Rodney had a moment of nausea when the Wraith's hair went flying and not the rest of him. He got over it and moved on to the next crisis, which was Sheppard buried up to his cowlick in sand.

They let Sheppard drop delicately in the pulverized, quartz crystals next to Teyla.

Ronon put one hand on his thigh and bent over to catch his breath. "There is a protected position on the other side of the dune, a rocky area with a small overhang. It's the best we could do."

"They have the pup tent we saved from the wreck," Rodney gasped, exhausted. He checked Sheppard to make sure he was breathing (which he was) and then studied the dune.

Teyla sat up in the sand and silently nodded. Everyone looked at John.

"You wait here with Rewapeh and we'll drag him over to it. I think we can go around on this side," Rodney said still taking heaving breaths and pointing to his left.

Speechless, Teyla nodded again and cradled the baby who decided it was time to cry even louder from all of the jostling. The shrill wail sent Rodney and Ronon off as they dragged John by the vest to the other side of the dune.

Rodney thought Carson would probably have a conniption watching them drag an injured person like a sack of grain, head flopping around like a bobble head. Well, Ronon had said, when they began their scouting, "We're in survival mode McKay, not comfort mode." Carson would just have to deal and Rodney would just have to not obsess over it.

Ronon said his little bit of backwoods' wisdom when Rodney had started to complain (like he was want to do on occasion) about the heat, the sand, the Wraith, the sand, and the heat. He might have thrown in something about his arm, and head, but hey, that had been about twenty minutes ago so…it did not matter anymore, anyhow. Ronon had retorted and Rodney decided that it was better to cower and shut his mouth than argue with Ronon and _beloved._

He laughed to himself because they were pulling his best friend across the sand to another boulder grouping so he could at least die in the shade. He wanted to have better thoughts, but right now he was just a pinch pessimistic.

He was tired. He was in pain. He was generally pissed off because Sheppard was dying and there was not a damned thing he could do about it, and then there was a seriously injured Teyla with a baby.

They left Sheppard in the shade and returned for the seriously injured Teyla with the baby, Roo-pa-pah or something close to that. Since he had bandaged Teyla's head and her knee, he knew that she was not as bad off as Sheppard, but she was running a close second. She too had mentioned pain in her abdomen and Rodney figured that they both were slowly bleeding to death on the inside.

God, this situation sucked. Had he mentioned there was a baby and pissed off Wraith to go with the blistering heat on his delicate skin?

Four day trip…should have nicknamed the Puddle Jumper the Minnow even though they were coming back to port early- so to speak. This planet was in the database as an abandoned outpost, but there had been other planets that used this Gate because of Ancient technology. Transporters or some such thing…right now, even as much as that kind of technology had his inner child drooling like it was Christmas morning; he had a few, more pressing issues. And no readings to back it up, but still the issues pressed as his boots swished in the sand.

As they walked back to Teyla, he checked the LSD and came up with nothing but the five of them. However, the Wraith could hide quite effectively as they had found out before. They would have to ask Teyla what she felt and if she could tell how far. She was a divining rod for Wraith. Point her in the right direction and off they would go. They put so much faith in it that they sometimes forgot the impreciseness and fallibility, hence, the Wraith sneaking up and overwhelming Sheppard and her.

However, her ability meant there was still hope and so he would have to keep up the front of survival, because no matter what, you did not give up. He had had that lesson drummed into him for almost three years now. And seeing as he was a quick study and an uber-smart individual, he actually learned it and made it his own. He had great teachers, not that they needed to know that little bit of information. He was going to give them a chance to keep on teaching his obtuse self.

Rodney took the baby in his arms and tried not to panic. Ronon was better suited to help Teyla and him the rug-rat. It was the first time that he had held the little squirt and, hopefully, the last, but he would not count on it.

He just knew he was going to break it like his sister's Barbie doll…Malibu Barbie if his memory served. Actually, he had not broken the doll, but the really cool _Dreamhouse_ that she had gotten for Christmas one year.

Who knew that an eight year old could not sit on top without it folding up like an accordion? With his brilliance, and the fact that he was not that heavy, and that those corporate moguls at Mattel should have built a better dollhouse, he had placed blame squarely on her shoulders. How come she left it out in her room where he could enter and sit anyway? So, he would not treat the baby as a Barbie or a dollhouse.

Of course, there were the glass stirring rods; he rarely broke them. They were more prevalent in chemistry and biology, but every once in a while he had to do something involving chemical or organic specimens. No, that comparison was not as helpful as he thought it would be because he could not see himself holding the baby like a stirring rod.

Anyway, the inappropriate laughter reappeared as he remembered Sheppard asking him to give him a few to act as swizzle sticks for cocktails. Where that man had found something to make cocktails…because Radek's first still had been dismantled…he stopped the line of thought just in case he incriminated himself to absolutely no one.

His laptops! He handled those with the utmost care. That's what he'd do; imagine the baby as a precious computer. Easy, sensible and a great solution to the problem. He puffed out his chest as he continued his streak of genius in finding logical solutions to everyday problems. It also made holding this squirming and screaming mouthpiece a lot easier.

When they finally returned to the rocks, they all rested in the shade and drank a little water. Ronon checked Sheppard and Rodney let Teyla care for the baby one last time. It was not a hard sell. He figured his turn was about to start and why not let her have one last opportunity to earn her way. He devoured a MRE of beef and noodle and rechecked their supplies. It was then that he noticed everything in Teyla's bag had burst.

"The stunner," she said dejected. "The energy must have burst the milk bottles and collapsed our plastic ones."

"Now, our water and milk are in even shorter supply," Ronon remarked while closing his eyes and looking like he was thinking what they were going to do next.

"What we've been doing," she advised apparently reading his mind. "Just with less."

What she did not say was, "It won't matter for us soon, anyway."

For one, Rodney was glad of it.

After a short rest, Ronon and he started setting up the small tent in the crevasse of the rocks that would act as their shelter until help returned. They checked Sheppard once more as they moved him inside the tent. Rodney placed a hand on Sheppard's shoulder and said a quick silent good-bye.

Ronon readied a bag to help them carry the little bundle of joy and drool. Teyla held the baby and watched as they readied for their part of the journey. They had to get moving and soon.

Finality set in and Ronon stood up. He composed himself and looked at the two remaining behind with fewer supplies than anticipated.

"See you soon."

Teyla returned it with a nod and beckoned him to come closer. She gave him an official Athosian farewell and let him go with a sad smile on her face.

Rodney came up next, but she did not let her farewell end with the head butt. She gave the baby to him and took a hold of his good arm.

"Dr McKay, when we first met, I thought you were a self-important and strange man," she delivered the words with a soft, yet mischievous smile. "My opinion has not changed."

He huffed and puffed with indignation. Here they were in the middle of the desert and she was taking this time, maybe her last words to him, to insult him?

"However, it has expanded."

Okay, maybe he was wrong.

"You have grown with wisdom and humility, but not too much humility for it to get in the way of your scientific sensibilities, doctor." Once again her delivery was with a warm, playful smile. She was fading, yet she was supporting. It filled him with remorse and anger at the situation.

"You have found a place in the grand scheme and have flourished. I am proud to call you my friend. John is proud to call you his friend. We are family…"

Rodney could not help it, the Pointer Sisters popped into his head; and he tried to chase it away until Gene Hackman dressed as a woman sacheted through his skull; and then he lost the battle with the giggles. Then he wanted to bang his head against a rock because Teyla was saying good-bye to him and all he could see was The Bird Cage.

She stopped for a moment and raised an eyebrow at the smirk on his face and the sputtering from his lips. He wiped the thought from his mind and gave her his undivided attention.

"As I was saying, we are family," she waited for him to smirk again and when he controlled the impulse, she continued, "My faith is in you and Ronon to bring the others back and deliver our bonded daughter to Atlantis. We will be here and we will be waiting for you."

"I'll take good care of Roo-a-boo-boo," he said with a sly smile on his face.

"It's Rewapeh," she gently corrected with a soft smile of her own.

That was Rodney's good-bye to the other half of his team. Sheppard never regained any semblance of consciousness and Teyla spoke of her faith in them. Ronon and he started their journey over hills of sand, mounds of gravel, and rocky mounts that scraped their hands and chewed-up their knees.

They stopped periodically to take care of baby things and dribble water into their own mouths. Rodney donned a bandana that Sheppard had brought with him to cover his tender scalp. He would have to thank the pilot…or not. No, he would get the chance to not thank him and make it sound like his divine right as a member of the team to use the scrap of material.

They trudged on as the scenery changed from rock, to other rock, to other rock. If any geologists asked, he could tell them with unequivocal knowledge that the rocks were tan and very hard. Thus was the extent of his study of the formations on this little slice of baked clay. He could also relay that the ground compacted in some areas as hard as his mother's Christmas sugar cookies. Mrs. McKay was many things, a baker not among them. Bless her, she tried.

They entered a large expanse of salt flats and crunched across it. He was now wishing that he had stolen Sheppard's sunglasses. It was not like he was going to need them sleeping away in a tent with Teyla. He quickly diverted his mind away from the two of them and back to the surroundings. With all this salt, potato chips were constantly on his mind and how good they would taste. As they exited the salt flats with its blinding white, they crossed more rocky ground with oh, hey, lookey there, sand.

The baby slept. The baby ate. The baby pooped. Rodney dealt. He also realized he was not ready for this type of responsibility yet. Fate of universe, no problemo. Fate of one, infant girl, aack!

As they swished along in the sand, Rodney contemplated all the wonderful sand-colored sand. The sand was not fine and powdery like a white beach, but more granular- more like sugar and not like flour. All this thinking of food made him hungry; and the baby started squirming; and he lost his concentration; and was not watching were he was going; and walked right off a small ledge of sand stone.

-------------------

_A/N: Happy New Year to all! Thanks for reading and once again sorry for the delay!_


	4. Over Hill and Dale

Scene IV

Over Hill and Dale

"It's broken."

"No…_really_…you snake-wearing, Medusa-loving cultist? I kind of figured it out, because my leg's not supposed to **_bend _**that way at the **_shin_**!"

True, thought Ronon. But, he thought it bared repeating and pointing out anyway.

It also left him alone to care for this infant all the way to the Ring. That was a prospect that he had not anticipated when they left Teyla and Sheppard. Leaving this abrasive little runt in the middle of the desert without so much as a drop of water was not either, but it was looking that that was the way of things. They could only carry so much; Teyla's rations were melted; and now McKay sat on his ass at the base of a four foot drop off with a broken shin bone.

"Who's Medusa?" Ronon asked as he studied the leg.

"Radiant, Greek goddess of love and gift giving."

Ronon doubted that very much.

"**For the love of…!" **McKay screamed as Ronon firmly pulled on the leg. Then, McKay was out like a snuffed light before he could finish the sentence.

Ronon fell back off his haunches and sat on the dry dusty ground. It was growing dark and with no compass, he would wait until early morning before setting out again. Now, he would set the doctor's leg to the best of his ability and hope Beckett could reset it if necessary. Life on the run had taught him many things and bones were just one of them.

When he finished, he grabbed the LSD and placed it in McKay's hand. The doctor, forever paranoid (good man), showed Teyla and he how to use it…just in case. Ronon expanded the scanning area and saw that they were quite alone. He placed the device back into McKay's pocket.

Without seeing it, he knew exactly where the Wraith was waiting, and he would deal with it when the time came. It was where they always waited if not on the hunt for a runner but for prey. Different game, different tactics.

Finding McKay's sleeping bag, he nestled the man in tight for his unwelcome nap. At least tonight, they would not have to worry about a surprise attack. They could dream of sweet scientific things and copious amounts of food. Water, lots and lots of water, could be added to the dreamtime list.

It was no secret this little group of people had become a family. All orphaned in one way or another, they found a need met in the company of one another. Ronon had grown accustomed to their eccentricities. Even the babbling brook of one Dr. Rodney McKay had become like bird song. A loud, screeching bird that did not stop warbling until a rock was thrown at it, but it was still song.

He would wait for McKay to wake up before telling him what would happen. He figured the scientist probably already had it worked out, anyway. It was just that the words to tell his friend that he would be alone in the desert with little or no food and water, and minimal shelter, well, he dreaded saying them. Of course, there was the added danger of the Wraith still being out there even if he was certain where it was located.

He checked little Rewapeh and found her sleeping soundly. Somehow, or maybe by curling himself around her, McKay had protected her when he fell. It was no small feat and Ronon was proud of his friend.

Grabbing an emergency blanket, he settled on the ground next to McKay, placed the child next to him, and closed his eyes. This would be the first time since coming to Atlantis that he would not have someone watching out as the team slept. He could revert back to old habits if necessary. He could sleep with one eye open and one ear tuned. He stopped short of drawing his knife and staking it in the ground as an added precaution.

Ronon woke before dawn. McKay slept fitfully beside him and Rewapeh squirmed and scrunched up her face readying a howl of monumental proportions. Ronon panicked in a way that he never thought possible. An infant of tiny physique was about to intimidate his oversized self.

"Bottle," he whispered and not just a little fearfully.

He was just too slow. The howl erupted and Ronon quickly looked for a bottle nestled in the middle of their stuff. The milk would not last much longer, spoilage was now an issue, and he just could not find it.

From behind him, McKay jerked awake and then let out his own howl, "Fu…!"

"McKay! Baby present." Ronon interrupted quickly.

"Well excu-use me! Sorry to overreact to a broken arm, broken leg and the fact I'm stuck here until you make it the Gate!" McKay rubbed a hand over his face. "I'm scared, alright. And we all know that fear brings out my cranky side!"

Ronon stopped searching the bag and slumped while still listening to the howling of one of the babies. He knew. "You oughta be scared. I think we're all scared," he said over the screeching solo of his bonded daughter.

McKay pushed himself up against the rock ledge in the early rays of dawn. "Here, give her to me while you look."

Even after a day of holding the baby, McKay still looked like he had swallowed something sour. He rocked her gently, yet woodenly trying to calm the screeching that would not abate until a nipple went into the mouth. Ronon sat back and laughed because that sounded damn good, and his mind needed to get away from there quickly before…

…Melina popped in both welcome and unwelcome. He stopped and swallowed his own bile. They had been talking of children before the last days of Sateda. They had wanted a family of their own. His cousins had little ones running around the ancestral home while visiting his grandparents before he deployed back to the city. His mother and father had been looking to him for grandchildren because his brother and sister were too busy with careers and were unattached.

They had loved Melina as their own. He had so loved her that he had wanted to save her from the Wraith and he had failed. He did not even get the chance to join her in the Fields of Mai because the Wraith made him a runner.

Ronon swallowed back on his bile again.

Kell had left Sateda unprotected, but this team had come to Sateda to protect him. New memories were being made and bonds forged, and he would not let them down. He might finally join her in the Fields trying, but he would fight to keep his team from their own afterlives.

"Found it!" he crooned as he held up the last bottle. Then, he realized it was the last bottle. "McKay, how far do you think the Ring is?"

While balancing Rewapeh on his lap, McKay looked at the LSD. He fiddled with different settings and frowned. He closed his eyes and his lips moved as he sifted through numbers. "Maybe, only less than a day. It's not accurate and I can't give you measurements. It just doesn't always work that way. Unfortunately, we are close enough that a life sign has appeared on the very outer edges of the scanning range."

"Figured that's where he'd be," said Ronon as he took Rewapeh and fed her.

Or tried to, she refused the bottle. He smelled the milk and realized it was spoiled, not chunky but soured. "Well, guess I'd better get there sooner rather than later."

This would be the longest part of the journey. He had a hungry child, increasing dehydration on his part and, surprised by how much it bothered him, he was alone.

McKay slid down and rested his head on the ground. "Well, that's not good. Just leave me one bottle of water and take the rest for you two. This is going to sound gross, but if you have to, grind up a PowerBar in your mouth and feed it to her as watered down as possible. It's not the best, but it's what's available."

"I don't know how old she is. What if it makes her choke?"

"Then stop, I guess, and walk faster." Rodney gave him the most earnest 'well, duh' face Ronon had seen yet from this shrill, abrasive song bird hidden in the branches of an evergreen.

Ronon wanted that rock to throw at that face, but it was bad luck to push a nesting bird out of a tree. McKay had nested right here at the bottom of the small drop off and Ronon knew he would give anything to have that shrill voice with him on the next part of the journey.

As the rays of the sun banded across monumental looking rock formations and vast desert, Ronon prepared to leave. He placed Rewapeh in the homemade sling made from a gym-styled bag he had also rummaged from the dying Jumper. Rodney and he had it down to a science of propping the baby up and feeding her with just one hand. Rodney had the sling yesterday and, today, was his turn.

"McKay…"

"See you soon," Rodney said and would not let him say anything more.

Pursing his lips, Ronon walked away towards a large crag in the mountain directly in front of him. After a few minutes, a single gun shot sounded behind him.

"He wouldn't," Ronon whispered, terrified that McKay would.

He hit his earpiece. "McKay! Answer me, dammit!"

The silence stretched for a few seconds until…

"_What? Oh wait…no, no, no! Scorpion looking thing! Overkill, but I wasn't going to let it near me!"_

"I thought you said this world is uninhabited."

"_Yes, by big things, small things are quite abundant, apparently."_

"Just, next time…give me some warning." Ronon signed off and staggered forward into the opening in the face of the mountain.

Rewapeh continued to complain. His shoulder joined in the complaints. And Ronon walked on through the complaints. He began dropping things from his backpack and placing other items in the carry-all that was Rewapeh's sling. The backpack was left to a very large boulder that looked like it really needed it.

Sometime during his walk through the canyon, he lost radio contact with McKay. Yet, voices spurred him on. Sheppard encouraged him to walk and get to the Gate. Teyla whispered that she knew he had strength for all of them. Rodney insulted his hair, once again, and pushed him forward by mispronouncing the baby's name one more time. Melina smiled in his mind and said he was worthy to have children when he was ready.

He fell once and they berated him until he stood up and staggered on.

When he exited the other side of the fissure, it was growing dark. The baby continuously whimpered and he tried McKay's idea with little success. Then, as he looked at the next dune of sand, a bright blue light glowed behind it. It was a guiding beacon in the twilight showing him the way home.

With giddiness coloring his speech, he tried his radio. "Atlantis, this is Ronon. Do you copy?"

Static answered with its lonely hiss. He knew it was too easy, too much like good luck. He also knew the Wraith was some where around the Ring. It was probably employing the tactic of activating the Ring to keep the prey trapped.

Thing was, if Ronon could stay hidden, the Wraith had to come out of hiding and reactivate the Ring. Ronon climbed up the side of the dune and placed Rewapeh next to him. Fatigue, dehydration, and the need for a long, hot shower tried to make him run for the great circle. Seven years of being the Wraith's chew toy made him stay put.

He peeked over the dune and down into the valley where the Stargate rested. The blue surface looked so cool and refreshing like a long, cold drink of water. But as with all water, there was danger. He just had to recognize where.

The area around the Ring was wide open. The dune was the only place to hide unless this one tried the same tactic of hiding in the sand. There really was only one place for the Wraith to hide. Ronon let his cunning guide his actions.

The sun was setting taking the light with it and giving the Wraith the advantage. It should have left and called for reinforcements, but it had not. It wanted the kill. It wanted to finish the hunt and gain retribution for his brothers without interference from others. Or so Ronon surmised.

Ronon could deal with an arrogant Wraith such as that, and then he remembered the baby as it started to whimper. He had to make sure the child was safe first. He crawled back down the dune and stopped at the base to look around. Rocks, his favorite thing on this planet, sat nestled at the base of the dune. He could place Rewapeh in there until the Wraith was dealt with.

It would know he was nearby because of the baby, but the sound might be multidirectional in the vast wasteland. As he crested the top, the Ring ceased and for a split second he saw the Wraith's hiding spot. Clever old dog, it was behind the Ring hidden by the water itself. It was as he had thought; water hid the danger so well.

Ronon did not waste anytime and took a shot. It missed and he heard the cackling of sonorous vocal cords.

"Ah, human…are we two the last?" As the last light waned, the Wraith moved behind the structure of the Great Ring of the Ancestors. "My brother no longer answers and you are definitely alone. I smell no other with you, but I do smell the death remnants!"

Ronon stopped short on that because it hit too close to his heart.

"Your people interrupted our fun. We could not allow that to go without punishment."

Scavengers, Ronon thought. Not unheard of, but not widely known either. "So, you are belly crawlers, those that pick up the droppings of greater hives. Queenless, I assume?"

"None of your concern, human, or should I say, meal?"

"I'm not good on the digestion; your brother found that out as I removed his scalp from his head!"

Ronon slid on his belly down the side of the dune out of sight of the Ring. He had become increasingly intrigued by the snipers on Atlantis. They were the sneakiest bunch of people he had ever met. He accompanied Sheppard on an exercise on the mainland a few months ago. Even Ronon had a hard time tracking these men and women once they donned their ghillie suits. Using whatever was available; they melted into the landscape and carried out their missions. They took the kill to a personal level that Ronon understood only too well.

He had nothing available, but the sand, so he burrowed like McKay's giant scorpion and the Wraith that had attacked Teyla and Sheppard.

"Human! You cannot get by me! I see only too well in the dark!"

Ronon waited.

"Maybe I was wrong about others. Do I smell an offspring?" The thing purred. "I do…and I hear it."

Ronon could hear Rewapeh as well. He stayed covered in the sand.

"I will kill you, and then find the offspring and the others who might still have life in them before returning through the portal!"

The Wraith was now searching him out. He was trying to locate him without much success. Footsteps drew closer and Ronon remained still.

"I smell you human. I hear you breathing."

Absolutely still, Ronon saw feet walk right next to his head on the way to the dune. The earth flew and Ronon tackled the belly crawling coward, a killer of women and children. He would not let this dreg of Pegasus add his team to the menu. He withdrew _beloved _and pulled the trigger.

She failed him for the first time since he had obtained her on a world culled to extinction. The sand must have messed up the mirrors and the firing mechanisms. The Wraith threw him off easier than Ronon would have liked.

Ronon had a last recourse available to him. He removed his largest knife from its sheath. As the Wraith flung itself at him, he thrusted the knife home, entering through the throat and exiting it through the back of the neck. It collapsed choking on and grabbing at the piece of protruding metal. Another knife appeared in Ronon's hand and he looked the Wraith in his one good eye. Now he knew why the idiot was trying to call him out. His eye was injured, probably from the crash. Apparently, this one had skipped a meal, a pilot who had not had a chance to eat.

Ronon took his other knife and thrust it through the good eye socket. The Wraith stilled with spasmodic intervals until his entire body went limp. Ronon removed the knife from the throat and wiped it in the sand and then on his pants. He took a step and nearly fell down. The damn Wraith had obviously broken one of his ribs.

He stood up again. In the dark, he moved across the dune to Rewapeh's hiding spot. Retrieving her, he set back over the dune and fell, protecting her to the best of his abilities as he tumbled down the incline. Once he stopped at the bottom, he lay in the sand for a few moments to catch his breath.

He was almost there. He had to get up, dial the Gate, and walk through after his code was sent. He made a quick check for his GDO and found it. Rising to his feet, he staggered to the DHD and dialed up the Promised Land.

"This is Ronon; we need a little help. I'm coming through now."

He went from the darkness of the planet to mid-day on Atlantis. Ronon squinted and looked around at all of the familiar faces. Dr. Weir trotted down the steps towards him.

"Ronon? Where are the others? And what is this?" Dr. Weir asked pointing to the crying gym bag.

Ronon did not answer just handed her the present with the purple blanket peeking out. Everyone was quiet besides Rewapeh, so he heard the slurping sound behind him and he saw the weapons rising in the hands of the soldiers. These little details told him that maybe the Wraith was not as dead as he initially believed.

Ronon whirled around and laughed at the infuriated creature bleeding on the Gate Room floor, "How sweet you pearly-haired monster, you followed me home."

With a loud snarl and blindness to all of the weapons pointed at it, the Wraith pulled the knife out of its eye and readied a throw based only on Ronon's voice. But, Ronon was home and among friends.

He passed out as shots rang out around him.

-------------------

_A/N: Thanks again for reading. Only one more part to go._


	5. O' Little Town

Scene V

O' Little Town

Elizabeth stood still holding the bag, so to speak. She looked at the collapsed, dirty, filthy, and stinking Ronon on the floor of the Gate Room and then she looked at the bloody mess that had been a Wraith at the other end. A knife lay just a few inches away until a young marine kicked it out of reach. He confirmed the Wraith's death with a 'yep, he's dead' sort of mumble. Finally, she looked into the bag and found a squirming and agitated infant to go with the wailing that had to be some sort of trick.

She knelt by Ronon, trusting that someone had already called for medical assistance, and shook him.

"Ronon, where's your team? Ronon, they need you to tell me where they are."

Eyes cracked open and looked at her for a long minute. "Right where I left them, on the planet with the Ring." The eyes rolled back and that was all she was going to get from him.

Of course, her next question would have been, "Where did you happen to get a baby from?" But that one would have to wait.

-------------------

Lorne homed in on the subcutaneous transmitter. He had called for another Jumper the moment they found Dr. McKay. The Jumpers were not meant to hold so many wounded and their caretakers comfortably. Dr. Beckett had remained with him as they streaked across the blazing landscape leaving one of his staff behind with McKay.

Dr. McKay had been hard to find even with his transmitter due to a sandstorm from the night before. He was buried under a few layers of sand and his sleeping bag when they found him. He was delirious but otherwise stable.

They were a little more skeptical of their next stop.

"Almost there," reported Lorne to the nurse and medic in the back.

He slowed the craft down and landed not too far away from what appeared to be a solid sand dune. The signal told a different story and the HUD told of life underneath.

As the Jumper landed, he looked at the marine copiloting. "Guess we dig, sergeant," Lorne stated as the hatch lowered onto the arid world.

They dug for a short while before finding nylon from the little tent.

"Sir? Teyla? It's Major Lorne; we're coming in."

He waited for a second before entering. The smell was awful. All the tell-tale signs of illness and inability to care for one another crept like death out of the tent with the stale air. The colonel lay on his side in a pseudo-fetal position and Teyla had her back to him in one of her own. They were unconscious and Lorne slowly backed out.

"Doc, I'll let you tell us what we need to do to move them, 'cause they're going nowhere on their own."

Beckett stooped over and went in. "Bloody hell…" muffled out through the un-zippered flap. After a few moments, he poked his head out. "Marta, bring me my bag. Peter, the backboards. Major, Sergeant, stay close; we'll get them out of here and assess them on the Jumper."

Lorne stood outside of the little manmade cavern and waited. He did that a lot in his job. His mission had not been a cakewalk either. They also had found Wraith, a stronghold of sorts. Four Hives and their accompanying cruisers had greeted them upon exiting the Gate and told them to leave with no undue haste. They had flown back under fire but with no real casualties except for a scorch mark on his Jumper and frayed nerves.

Korkov, on the other hand, had found a viable Gate, lucky bastard. He had gone there and back within the specified time and a song on his lips upon seeing the blemish on Lorne's bucket. Lucky fucking bastard, Lorne thought again.

The Colonel's team obviously had sucked all the remaining bad luck into this dust bowl of a planet. But, at least, the Wraith were not based here. It meant they could send another team back to claim their leftovers and check if the Gate could become part of the bridge.

Beckett stuck his head back out after a little while. "Alright, we're goin' ta be movin' Teyla first. We have her neck immobilized and she's strapped down pretty well, still, be careful."

The medic, Marta, lifted Teyla at the covered end and the sergeant did it from the outside. Next, Lorne helped the nurse, Peter, to lift Sheppard who was similarly immobilized. They were both placed on the back benches and Beckett crouched between them mumbling the entire time.

When he did speak, it was readily apparent that delays would not be tolerated. "Major, best speed. We have two critical care patients." Beckett was then on the horn to Atlantis' infirmary prepping his staff.

Lorne did not need to be told twice and brought the two teammates back to the inn with that no undue haste he had had to employ a couple of days ago.

-------------------

Beckett pulled the bloody gloves off and prepared himself to go talk to those waiting for word. He rotated his neck back and forth to loosen it up while preparing his words. He hated it when he could not outright tell friends and family the news was all good.

As he walked from the surgical suites, he threw the gloves and gown in the red bagged bin. He opened the door and walked out into the main ward and plastered neutrality on his face.

"Well?"

Carson looked at Rodney who had rebounded quite nicely with some fluids and a good proper cast on his leg and a nice glowing blue one on his arm. "They are both in recovery right now. They are both critical but stable. Teyla had some minor internal bleeding that I took care of. Her head injury is also not as serious as it could have been. Her kneecap was dislocated, but we'll see how that goes. Her back is strained but that too will lessen with time."

He paused as the information was bandied about by patients and guests. "Col. Sheppard is a different matter. Dr. Burrow had to repair his spleen and a few other organs along with one of his lungs. We checked the slight skull fracture from hitting the control interface. There was slight swelling in the brain but even that is reducing every time we recheck. Overall, they're doing remarkable well, and no, you can't see them until tomorrow. At the very least, they will remain in ICU until tomorrow morning."

Elizabeth smiled and looked down at the baby in her arms. "Hear that, your Godparents are going to be fine."

"Elizabeth, I can't say…" Carson started nervously.

"I can, Carson. They brought this child back like they promised and it wouldn't do for them not to have a say in her custody."

Elizabeth looked as natural with the Rewapeh as Rodney did when the wee tyke woke up and would not quiet down for anyone, even with a bottle. He calmed the little one even if it was with a look of sheer terror on his face and a bottle wedged under his chin. Carson would have weeks, nay, months of fodder for jokes at the physicist's expense.

"Anyway," Ronon said, "They knew we'd come back. They wouldn't want to let us down." He shifted in his bed and looked directly at McKay.

Rodney held a defiant look on his face and bit back with a firm agreement of, "What he said."

"I understand if only because of this sweet, little lass. A bonnie thing she is too." She had drained an entire bottle after they got her to the infirmary and checked over. Over all, she was in the best shape out of all of them.

Each had suffered from dehydration and exposure coupled with the other injuries. The entire team was doing quite well under the circumstances though.

It also paid to think ahead, Carson had ordered Enfamil and equipment for an emergency neonatal unit when the Daedalus started its regular runs. The Athosians sometimes had difficult births that were brought to the city when necessary. The equipment had been used but only rarely. It meant they were ready for Rewapeh when Ronon handed her to Elizabeth, even if Elizabeth was not.

"What is the plan for this beautiful babe?" Carson asked Elizabeth.

"Once she is out of your care, we'll see what her Godparents want to do. Though, I don't think Atlantis is the right place for her."

"Teyla had mentioned Halling might have some ideas," suggested Ronon.

"Let her go live in the wilds?" Rodney asked with a dash of horror.

"No, with the _Athosians_, _McKay_."

"That's what I just said, _Ronon_."

"We're not shipping her back to Earth, **_McKay_**."

"But the educational systems, _**Ronon**._"

"She's from this galaxy and she's staying in this galaxy, **_McKay_**."

"Gentlemen, let's get her healthy and wait for your other two teammates to join the discussion before making any decisions," Elizabeth advised as Rewapeh burped loudly, thus, closing the matter completely, for now.

-------------------

_What had died and crawled into his mouth? _Sheppard thought to himself as awareness crept over him like a tiny ball peen hammer. Another good question was- what had run over his body, asked the question, "Did we run over something?" and then tried to confirm it with running over him again?

Hearing kicked in and soft murmurs breezed over. Maybe, he could ask whoever belonged to the voices.

"Looks like he was hit by a truck," one voice observed.

"Naw, looks like he was clobbered by George Foreman _and _his grill," observed another with a slight Eastern European accent.

"Oh, you two are sooo droll," a welcomed voice answered. "Radek, I have just two words for you-- finger paints. And Gibbs, only one-- seaweed. Revenge gentlemen, revenge. The next time I'm just assigning and taking the cakewalk."

"Dr. Gibbs' mission was a cakewalk; mine was anything but…"

"One little scorch mark on Jumper 5! I broke bones, Radek!"

Sheppard tried to open his eyes, but they would not go past slits. So, instead, he grunted a little with the effort.

"Hush Rodney!" Radek brusquely commanded. "The colonel, he is moving!"

John grunted again because the movement flared pain from all over his body. Also, he had to cough and he really did not want to do that the way his chest was feeling.

"Sheppard? Sheppard stay still…" ordered the familiar and antagonistic voice.

He had heard that before…somewhere…somewhere hot and cramped and moving…he was the one used to giving orders…

"Col. Sheppard? Col. Sheppard, it's Dr. Beckett. Your home, relax."

Sheppard coughed and wanted to go back to wherever he had been before.

_Relax? _He thought. _Relax? My insides just tried to come out through my mouth, my nose and my eyeballs! You relax! _

A hand slipped into his and squeezed. The voice whispered in his ear, "John, it's Elizabeth. You're team made it home as did the baby…"

BABY!!!

His team made it home? Why wouldn't they be home? And…and…BABY?

His confusion grew; he could not see; and he felt like that truck the other voice had been talking about had not only hit him, but had had George Foreman driving it and throwing grills at him, repeatedly.

He had to go…go…go…go. The quota…they had to get back in the Jumper and fill the quota…he hated the damn ridiculous quota…why on Earth would he fill the quota with a baby?

He had left the Jumper around here somewhere…no, the Wraith were around here somewhere…

He could not keep anything straight in his mind. He tried to get up: then something metallic and liquid tasting was in his mouth; and people were shouting; and then he was spinning towards sleep again.

-------------------

"He's fine Rodney. He bit his tongue is all. Looked worse than it actually was."

"You don't get it…he looked like…on the planet…"

"I do get it Rodney. Ronon, Teyla, Rodney, he _is _fine."

Sheppard hated eavesdropping, but it was easy when your eyes still refused to open. Of course, the heart monitor tattled on his burgeoning consciousness just like a younger sibling.

"Finally, the last Wise Man is awake; for real this time, I hope," the soft familiar burr purred next to his head.

WHAA?

Sheppard opened his eyes to a quirky smile and a damned penlight that blinded him so the smile was hidden by horrible spots. He tried to swat at the offensive little thing just to have a hand gently hold his own down. He looked over at a globular Elizabeth with her own quirky smile and dubious bedside manner.

"I don't know about wise, Carson, but he did help deliver the little lamb to this temple of technology, didn't he?"

He was thoroughly confused now. "Please, tell me what's going on?" he croaked out.

"What is the last thing you remember, Colonel?" Carson asked with a little more forced meaning than John liked.

"Um, well…" What **was **the last thing he remembered? "Uh, let's see…leaving to check S20-118...we found no one on the planet and went to check the neighboring worlds…Wraith? Maybe?"

"WRAITH! MAYBE? Wraith, definitely yes!" Rodney shouted from the other side of the privacy screens.

"Dr. McKay, you do not need to yell," Teyla admonished him from somewhere close by. "Col. Sheppard has a severe concussion, which, believe me when I say, yelling does not help it."

Sheppard could hear the wince of pain in her voice.

"Yeah McKay, shut up," Ronon added to bring the point home.

"Shut up? Did you just tell me to 'shut up'?"

The argument continued in the background and Carson leaned over into visual range. Carson just shook his head and snorted. "As Rodney said, 'Wraith, definitely yes,' Colonel. You crashed after evading four Wraith darts. Two apparently crashed with you on S20..."

"Planet Hell!" Rodney shouted.

"McKay!" Teyla and Ronon yelled back.

"Jinx, now you both owe _me _a Coke," Rodney jeered back.

Sheppard wanted to either laugh or throw-up…he did the latter after starting the first effectively chasing Elizabeth from the enclosed area. She returned after Carson finished checking his various suture sights and bruised and/or cut areas. When they moved the privacy screens, she held up a squiggling, pink clad and drooling baby girl.

Once again, his brain screamed, BABY?

An image broke across his mind of lips kissing that forehead and he knew that this little bit o'nothing and he had met before. He just was a little fuzzy on the details.

"This is Rewapeh, your Goddaughter," Elizabeth introduced.

He snorted, because that could not be right, could it? He looked at his entire team laid up in bed with the 'she's right' look on their faces and realized that crashing had only been part of the story. Those cracked and dried lips kissing the forehead had only been a part of the story. Waking up in Carson's care was the end of the story. What he needed was the rest of the middle because leaving here on a Stargate shopping run was only the very beginning.

His team played Paul Harvey and filled him in on the rest of the story, including his now three day sleep/coma in the infirmary, which made total sense. They had journeyed across the desert with a baby and found a place at the inn. The medicinal, smelling inn, but it was a welcomed respite from obvious, life-threatening hardship.

Throughout it all, he realized that he had cemented his faith in his team. Apparently, when he awoke in the Jumper, which he really did not remember, he never wondered if they would free him and he let them handle everything. They really had traveled a long and winding road to get to this point in their dynamic. He was proud of them for working together and of himself for releasing control just for a little while.

"So John, what do you think should happen to little Rewapeh?" Elizabeth asked patting the girl on the back as her head rested on Elizabeth's shoulder.

John slowly turned his head to look with blurry vision at what he hoped was Teyla. "I think, Teyla knows best on this subject," he conceded with a battered smile.

Rodney harrumphed; Ronon snickered; and Teyla said, "Halling is coming tomorrow with the names of some suitable parents, if that is all right with you, John?"

"It's all good," he mumbled contentedly.

-------------------

Ariam and Soje Melbe'heth stood before all four of Rewapeh's convalescing bonded parents, nervously.

"We promise to take her and love her. She will know the sacrifice that all of her parents gave and of her birth people." They accepted the baby into their arms and Ariam accepted the book that was Rewapeh's only other possession besides the deep purple blanket.

"You do realize that we will be checking up on her and you?" Rodney asked with his leg propped up on pillows. "We will have a say in her education."

"Rodney, they know," Sheppard whined out in the most positive whine Teyla had ever heard.

Halling had chosen Ariam and Soje because of their inability to have their own children. A condition that was devastating to them, at first. They realized that there were children left by the Wraith that would need a home. So they waited patiently. The patience paid off when Teyla had Atlantis call the mainland. He knew immediately who to allow the privilege of raising the child. He had also chosen them because of their maturity. With her as a patron, along with her team, Halling knew it would take parents of strong wills to deal with them.

Ariam and Soje were perfect.

"We are glad you have taken this privilege," commended Teyla. The couple beamed back at her as they hugged the child close.

"Okay, you lot need to rest. Ronon and Rodney will be released in the morning, so I want a good night's sleep," Dr. Beckett ordered. "Tracy, be a dear and get the lovely couple set up with formula and any other supplies they will need."

Tracy shuttled the new parents out, but Halling remained behind for a moment more. "You have done a momentous thing by letting them raise the child. They have waited a long time for this."

They had all said their good-byes to the infant and knew that the mainland was just a Jumper trip away. Their mission to uphold the promise was now complete.

"Couldn't very well keep her cooped up here with no other children, now, could we?" Sheppard answered.

Halling looked at the pilot's swollen and healing, purple eyes. He looked at the slings that Dr. McKay and Ronon wore. He looked at Teyla's own bound knee. They had been willing to sacrifice their lives for this unknown infant. The least he could do was make sure that she had a chance to grow up right and to grow up strong.

"Yes, you could have, but we will do our best to make sure that this decision is the correct one."

"Then, we have nothing to worry about," Sheppard said with a pained smile. "If they need anything, just call."

"Well, they may have to take hints on the changing of diapers," Halling said with a smirk. "I am out of practice."

"That is Rodney's department," answered Ronon. "He loves it."

Rodney purpled and sputtered with his trademark indignation.

Teyla laughed because she had seen Rodney's first attempt at the diaper. He had completely missed Rewapeh's bottom.

**The End**

-------------------

_A/N: A little explanation of the name is in order. The baby in the movie's name was **R**obert **W**illiam **P**edro **H**ightower. He was named after his three godfathers. I added the vowels and there you go. Also in the movie, everyone but John Wayne's character, Robert Hightower, dies. That just would not do so I had them really beat up._

_Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed and catch ya on the flip side!_


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